Cape homeless advocates scale back

A regional plan released Monday to reduce or prevent homelessness on Cape Cod and the Islands is more realistic and coordinated than ever, advocates say.

PATRICK CASSIDY

BARNSTABLE — Ending homelessness is a daunting goal.

A regional plan released Monday to reduce or prevent it, however, is more realistic and coordinated than ever, according to advocates for the homeless on Cape Cod and the Islands.

The plan is the culmination of a year's work and brings local efforts in line with state and federal strategies to help the homeless, said Paula Schnepp, coordinator for the Cape Cod and Islands Regional Network to Address Homelessness.

The network's new regional plan to "address" homelessness is an update of a 10-year plan to "end" it created in 2005. The new plan focuses on five populations: the chronically homeless; veterans; families with children; young people ages 18 to 24; and people over 60.

Working groups comprising representatives from local nonprofit organizations in the network have been developing the three broad strategies of education, advocacy and facilitation, Schnepp said in announcing the report's release during a round-table discussion Monday at Barnstable Superior Courthouse.

One strategy that could help all groups is an online resource directory of available affordable housing in the region, she said.

There's also a question about what happens to the children in homeless families as they grow older, said Chris Austin, executive director of the Homelessness Prevention Council, which provides services on the Lower and Outer Cape.

Austin, co-chairwoman of the network's working group on families with children, said 500 families from Harwich to Provincetown are at risk of becoming homeless.

Most statistics don't capture populations that are on the brink, Austin and others said.

"What you don't get are the numbers of (those) at risk," said Elizabeth Albert, director of Barnstable County's Department of Human Services.

The number of people on the Cape who fall below the federal poverty limit doubled between 2006 and 2010 from 11,258 to 23,860 — about 11 percent of the county population — even as the region's population fell, said Sheila Lyons, Barnstable County commissioner and co-chairman of the network. The federal poverty income limit is $10,830 annually for an individual, or $22,050 for a four-person household.

While the cost of food and other needs changes little, the loss of jobs changes the financial resilience of the population, Witte said.

"It's a national issue," she said.

The coordination among advocates for the homeless on the Cape and Islands is becoming stronger, Albert said.

The new plan marks the first time the region has addressed homelessness among young adults, she said.

The network is also working to bridge the gap between employment resources and the homeless or those in danger of becoming homeless, she said.

A $10,000 planning grant from the Fireman Foundation will be used to create a program focused specifically on homelessness employment issues, Albert said.

Funding for homelessness prevention has seen steep cuts over the past several years as the state has slashed spending on programs such as the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition, or RAFT.

The county has stepped in and paid for Schnepp's coordinator position at a cost of $40,000 for this year.

But local advocates are pleased by Gov. Deval Patrick's budget, said Allison Alewine, vice president of program operations at Housing Assistance Corp. Patrick's budget currently includes an $8.5 million increase in spending statewide over last year for the RAFT program, which would bring it to $8.75 million. The Cape got about $500,000 from the RAFT program three years ago, the last time it was significantly funded by the state.

"If that goes through we'll be in better shape than we have been," Alewine said.

Still, members of the network said there's a need to expand RAFT-funded programs to those barely hanging on to their homes.

The Cape and Islands plan is at the forefront of plans developed by the state's 10 regions set up to address homelessness, said Liz Rogers, Massachusetts executive director for the United States Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness.

"I would say it positions them very well to be competitive for any public dollars — or private dollars, for that matter," Rogers said.

There still isn't enough money from the federal and state governments to adequately address homelessness, said Alan Burt, a vocal advocate for the homeless on Cape Cod.

"I don't think anybody can honestly say that these organizations have ever been given adequate funding," he said.

Burt said he had nothing but praise for the agencies that put together the regional plan, but the continued funding issues mean there will always be unfulfilled needs.